SOCIAL

US church may allow trans ministers

The USA’s Episcopal Church has approved a proposal on hiring transgender men and women to become bishops or ministers and is awaiting a final vote.

The institution’s House of Bishops approved proposals allowing ‘gender identity and expression’, meaning it no longer discriminates against trans people as candidates for ministerial positions, reports the Global Times.

The proposal was passed on 8 July, nine years after the Episcopal Church approved its first gay bishop, Gene Robinson. The church now allows gay men and lesbians to join its ordained ministry.

If it wins the vote, the resolution would allow transgender people to enter the Episcopal ministries and extend the church’s anti-discrimination policy.

The church’s policy currently covers race, gender, sexual orientation, disability and marital status. If gender identity is approved, then the policy will stretch to further communities.

The last convention was held by the church in 2009 which pledged to ban ‘all discrimination’.

The church will also hold a convention in Indianapolis later this year. On the agenda is the church’s vote on approving equal marriage.